


For You I Will

by Schwoozie



Category: The Hobbit (2012)
Genre: Brothers, Fluff, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Incest if you squint, M/M, Self-Esteem Issues, Sibling Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-12
Updated: 2013-02-12
Packaged: 2017-11-29 00:33:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 801
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/680646
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Schwoozie/pseuds/Schwoozie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After facing many trials, the Company pauses to take a well-earned bath. But even after his bravery against trolls and goblins, Kili is worried that his fellow dwarves will laugh at him when they see him with his clothes off. Fili provides comfort the way only a brother can.</p>
            </blockquote>





	For You I Will

Originally posted on [tumblr](http://schwoozie.tumblr.com/post/42873842263/spoon-party-of-durin-oh-christ-grabby-hands), and inspired by hvit-ravn's wonderful artwork.

* * *

"Come, little brother, you can't go bathing in your clothes!"

"Then I won't go at all!"

Keen to join the Company (which he could hear already whooping and splashing in the nearby river), Fili sighed heavily and turned around, reminding himself that Kili was not yet 80 and Fili himself had been no less pigheaded at that age, and – he paused. 

Kili stood hunched in his skin, head turned awkwardly aside and fiddling with the ties of his shirtsleeves. His high cheeks were stained a ruddy red, and Fili was shocked to see tears glinting in his eyes. 

"What is wrong, brother?" Fili put a hand against Kili's cheek to turn him and meet his eyes. Kili fidgeted, refusing to look up.

"It's just..." he mumbled.

"What?"

"They'll laugh at me," he whispered.

Fili frowned. "You might not be very thick, but you're longer than I am. We compared just last week, I can show you again–"

"Not that!" Kili exclaimed, embarrassed for his brother's obtuseness. "I–, I don't deserve to be here."

"Kili," Fili said, bringing up his other hand to cup his brother's face, "Thorin would not have accepted you if you did not belong."

"He knew you wouldn't come without me," Kili mumbled. "That's the only reason he chose me."

"Kili–, come, brother, look at me." He complied slowly, still looking timid. Fili got very close to him, until their noses nearly touched. "You remember the time we snuck into the goblin camp to rescue the golden belt they stole from the forge?"

Despite himself, Kili's lips twitched upwards at the memory. "Uncle striped us bloody for that."

Fili grinned, shaking Kili's head in his hands for emphasis. "Exactly! But remember just as we were escaping? You shot a goblin through the eye in the dark – at 100 paces, no less! Do you know another dwarf who could do that? You saved my life, brother. For that alone, you are worth more than all the dwarves beneath the mountain."

"But– but I have fought no great battles, won no glory. I–" Kili put a hand on his brother's chest, tracing the white, puckered line there with his fingers. Fili looked down. He remembered the day he got that scar. He had been only a little younger than Kili was now, and he had gone with Thorin to trade their wares at various homesteads. Thorin left Fili to watch the wagons as he went hunting, and Fili was ambushed by a band of twenty thieving Men. Normally, a descendent of Durin could have dispatched such rabble with his war cry alone, but they took Fili by surprise. Thorin returned just as their leader lay a great blow across Fili's chest, splitting him open from collar to flank. Kili did not leave his side once during his months of recovery; it took Fili weeks to convince him to simply move across the room to his own bed.

"You have no scars," Fili said, realizing.

Kili bit his lip and dropped his hand. His shirt fell from his shoulder with the movement, but he did not adjust it.

"They'll laugh," he said again, lips trembling. "Uncle Dwalin has more scars than there are stars in the sky; even Ori looks like a warrior compared to me, and Uncle–"

"Kili–"

"Uncle Thorin doesn't need to be reminded how useless I am," he finished in a rush. "Please, brother, leave me be. You shouldn't be punished because of my cowardice."

"Kili, son of Dís," Fili said softly, pressing their foreheads together. "If you are a coward, then I am Smaug himself." He kissed his brother tenderly on the mouth, then pulled him into a hug. Kili hung on desperately, burying his face in his brother's neck, and Fili was suddenly reminded of the day they faced the stone giants – how the agony of Kili's hand slipping from his own was beyond the pain of any wound he would ever bear. So he hugged his baby brother just as fiercely, whispering to himself,  _There is nowhere I shall go without you_.

When they separated, Kili attempted a small smile. Fili laughed heartily and fixed his brother's shirt, patting his neck fondly.

"Come to the water with me, at least, and we shall see if you are so quick to condemn yourself then."

"I think– I think I will be alright. You'll be with me, won't you?"

Fili smiled, and kissed him again.

"Always, baby brother. Last one there has to groom the ponies!"

"Fili!" Kili squealed, scrambling after him. Fili glimpsed eleven bemused dwarves and one very confused hobbit before he flung himself into the air with a whoop.

The last thing Fili heard before he hit the water was his brother's beautiful laugh.

**Author's Note:**

> I know Kili wouldn't be called "son of Dís," but I couldn't find the name of their father.
> 
> Sorry if this is a bit rough.


End file.
